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A Cool Truck

Matt Pouge's

1954 Chevy 3/4-Ton


September 04 00

From Matt:
     Here is that pic I was talking about-- I finally found it. Unfortunately it's a little dark-- this is after some photoshopping!     
     The '39 coupe is on the trailer and that is me, my two brothers, and a good friend sitting on it. I also am looking for this one pic I have of the '54 the day I brought it home. It is much more menacing looking in that picture because it is a side view and accentuates the 3/4-ton long bed and original ride height (the pic I am sending now is after I mono-leaf'd the front, put on smaller wide whites, and painted the grille and rims red). I'll send that pic also when I find it.
     As for new plans-- a buddy of mine just gave me an unrestored 1955 261 inline truck engine with an 848 head (nice guy huh?). So now my quandary is to decide if I wanna build it up with my 1954 Corvette parts (3 side draft Carters and the big ignition shroud with chrome overfow tank), or if I wanna build it with my vintage S.CO.T supercharger on a custom-fabricated intake manifold. I kinda like the look of the original "New Blue Flame -- 1-2-3" sticker on the valve cover, and the blower would be kinda fun since it's vintage and all.
     This 1954 Chevy 3/4 ton I bought as my first car at 22 years old. I drove it bone stock until one day it died, and then I began to disassemble it down to nothing. I had this crazy idea that I was going to make it "newstalgia" and I bought a 6-speed BorgWarner T51 tranny and built up a 350 Chevy with 3 Rochester carbs. And then I had to move out of my parents' house. All my extra income went to putting food in my mouth, etc. And in the meantime, a buddy of my younger brother sold me an original 1954 Corvette intake with the three side-draft Carters and all the linkage/fuel lines.
     After 4 years, I now have graduated college and have some cash to finish this project (the truck has been a skeleton in mom's yard for 3 years now). I have decided to do it as a sleeper/hot rod using parts that would have been new speed parts when the truck was manufactured (and I have just about finished collecting all the parts I will need to clone a "blue flame 235" that would have been in the 54 Corvette). Which is much more appealing to me now than doing the run of the mill Chevy 350 (and you wouldn't believe how excited some of these inliner guys are that a 23 year-old and a 25 year-old know how to put together Chevy 216's and 235's!!! -- we have garnered a following and may even go into business in the future!).
     Our love of stovebolts came from a 1939 Chevy Master Deluxe 2-door coupe that my parents bought on their honeymoon in 1970 for $100. It sat in the garage with mattresses and dust and boxes on it until the day that dad and the boys would build it together-- sounds like a lovely little story for your father/son section of the stovebolt page-- but alas, we never had that kind of relationship with our father, and around 18, I gave up altogether on that dream, and gave my portion of the '39 to my younger brother. And he tried to put it together, and even took it apart and had it acid dipped-- but it was far too rusted for us to rebuild it without major cash (and without fatherly guidance), and then our parents divorced. So the '39 parts are the last remaining parts from that truck (which is in good hands, despite the fact that it probably will be tubbed and have TPI in it -- I hate to think about how many cars were ruined in the 80's by the "Pro Street" look).
     The 1950 Powerglide was going to go on my '54 Pickup. And the 1969 rims/rear-end was also going to go on the 3/4 ton (think plan A, plan B, plan C-- now we're on plan D here!). I am sure with your husband you know all too well how those plans for our old trucks change!!!   
     On the bright side, the '39 is gone, but my brother just started up for the first time last week (after completely rebuilding) his 1946 Chevrolet Fleetline that he bought 2 years ago with the money from the '39. All we have to do is buff out the body, repaint the hood, and put all the chrome on! It has all new mohair interior, a watercooled Edmunds dual carb manifold we found at the swap meet, skirts, a spotlight, glasspacks, and flamethrowers out the back! And it's original ride height-- it is sure to win a show or two!      Thank you for graciously hosting such a wonderful resource for our trucks! You do a great job!


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